Ontario Districting

Drawing the Line in Our Neighborhoods

What is Redistricting/Districting? “Every ten years, local governments use new census data to redraw their district lines to reflect how local populations have changed. Assembly Bill 849 (2019), also known as The Fair and Inclusive Redistricting for Municipalities and Political Subdivisions (FAIR MAPS) Act, requires cities and counties to engage communities in the redistricting process by holding public hearings and/or workshops and doing public outreach, including to non-English-speaking communities.” - California Secretary of State

In January 2022, CCAEJ in collaboration with the Brown and Black Redistricting Alliance, in which our Executive Director is the convener for SB County, began making connections with Ontario community members. During this time the Ontario Future Alliance began coming together organically to advocate against warehousing development in the south part of Ontario.

In March, 2022 CCAEJ + Brown and Black Redistricting Alliance and Ontario Future Alliance began conducting in-person community meetings in Ontario and via zoom. CCAEJ provided education workshops about what Community of Interest (COI’s) testimony was and the importance of providing testimony at the Public Hearing meetings.

In June 2022, Brown and Black Redistricting Alliance in collaboration with Lupe Camacho, a knowledgeable and experienced demographer created Map 10, which represented community of interest testimonies and voices from Ontario Latino, Black and Asian communities.

Melissa May, CCAEJ Ontario Community Organizer conducted over eight community meetings with different partners and Ontario residents, many of which remained engaged during an eight month period, a total of forty-one COI’s testimonies were received. During this time, the original map adoption that was intended to take place in July was halted due to pending litigation from an Ontario resident.

Between August and November Brown and Black Redistricting Coalition joined forces with Fair Ontario and through pressure from plaintiff’s attorney, and many community member’s testimonies Map 17 was developed and unanimously adopted by the city council on November 1st, 2022 with a second reading on December 6th, 2022. Adopted resolution also included the sequence of first district elections beginning November 2024.

This is the second Redistricting/ Districting victory for CCAEJ along with the Brown and Black Redistricting Coalition in San Bernardino County. Not only will Ontario be able to have representation based on the region of the city but opportunities to elect representatives that reflect the population of that community are now increased making sure no community is underserved and/or underrepresented.

This is also a huge victory for all communities because we have set a precedent and a model to create a fairer, more inclusive way to elevate community voices and create maps that reflect the community’s needs to create a social and natural environment where all people can thrive. We are very proud of the community members who participated in this difficult and long process, cherish this victory!